Michigan: Detroit Public Library Would Be Forced to Close If Current Property Tax Not Renewed (Proposal L)

Detroit voters will decide the fate of the Detroit Public Library on the August 5 primary ballot.

The vote will decide if the Library continues its current operating millage of four mills, which supplies 86 percent of its operating budget.

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If the proposal doesn’t go through the current millage will continue through June 30, 2015. After that time, the library would lose a majority of its operating budget.

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“Without the millage we would have to close our doors and all of those citizens would go unserved,” [DPL Executive Director Jo Anne G.] Mondowney said. “We want voters to be fully informed about what is at stake for all Detroiters. The Detroit Public Library provides unique and irreplaceable access to the digital world. If that access were taken away, it would be devastating for many people who rely on us.”

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.